U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,731 discloses an apparatus for sharpening a razor blade. The apparatus includes a sharpening member, a housing for securing the sharpening member therein and for guiding a razor blade in back-and-forth sharpening movement within the housing. The housing has a transverse slot for inserting a head of a razor blade holder therein, and a longitudinal slot in a top plate thereof for linear movement therein of the handle which carries the blade holder. The sharpening or honing member is preferably made of a plate of glass secured to the bottom wall of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,970 discloses a stropping device for a blade for safety razors. The device allows an existing razor blade to be repeatedly used disclosed. The stropping device consists of a main body and an adhesive sheet attached on the back surface of the main body. A guide groove part is longitudinally formed on a front portion of the main body, while a protrusion is integrally and horizontally formed on a top portion of the main body. Also, side walls are formed at both side ends of the main body in such a manner that their outer surfaces are smoothly curved. A stropping plate member, produced from a leather material such as a natural or synthetic leather or suede, is attached on the bottom surface of the guide groove part by an adhesive means. In addition, a recess is formed on a rear portion of the protrusion in such a manner that a nail, driven in a wall in a house, is inserted into the recess.
It is a disadvantage of the sharpening device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,731 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,970 that medium upon which the razor blade is to be sharpened and is moved across do not match the hardness of the skin of the body. The mismatch implies that the blades of the razor blade are very vulnerable and are easily damaged.
It is an object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide razor blade sharpener where blades of a safety razor blade are not so easily damaged.
It is a further object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide razor blade sharpener where blades of a safety razor blade are sharpened against a medium having an indentation hardness similar of the indentation hardness of human skin.